Published: May 21, 2026 by Liam | Last Updated: May 22, 2026 by Liam
Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com's coverage.
Orange County Corrections
New details have now emerged regarding the arrest of WWE star Ludwig Kaiser (also known as El Grande Americano).
UPDATE: WWE AAA cancels ‘Serenata for El Grande Americano’ event after Ludwig Kaiser arrest – click here for the latest.
Kaiser, real name Marcel Barthel, was booked in Orange County, Florida at 2:37pm yesterday (May 20, 2026) and was bailed out for $1000 at 11:20pm.
He was arrested on battery charges with arrest documents now revealing more details on the allegations against him.
Per the documents, the incident took place on April 23 on the 12th floor of an apartment building in Orlando.
The accuser claims that around 6:30pm, he entered an elevator when Barthel and a woman also entered the elevator.
He claims Barthel and the woman were behaving in an “uncontrollably intimate” way including “aggressively kissing”, to which he claims he said upon exiting the elevator “please have some manners.”
Then, he claims that Barthel punched him multiple times, pushed him to the ground, and threatened further violence.
The officer writing the statement said he identified a scratch on the back of the accuser’s head, consistent with a physical altercation.
Police are said to have reviewed video footage of the incident, which led to them identifying Barthel as a possible suspect as he matched the description they observed.
The accuser then identified Barthel from a photographic lineup of possible suspects.
Barthel turned himself in yesterday and reportedly flew back to the US from Mexico to do so when he found out about the arrest warrant.
He has pleaded not guilty and has waived his right to appear for his arraignment.
His attorneys have filed a request to allow him to travel internationally since he has a big match coming up in Mexico at WWE AAA Noche De Los Grandes on May 30, where he’s set to face the Original El Grande Americano (Chad Gable) in a mask vs mask match.
That match is the headline attraction of the show and has been one of the hottest storylines in all of WWE for the past few months, at least with the audience in Mexico and viewers of AAA with the way it’s been presented there as opposed to how it’s played out as a comedy storyline on Raw.
(Sources: PWInsider & Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful)
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